Middle East

OTTAWA Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday called a parliamentary election for Oct 19, kicking off a marathon 11-week campaign likely to focus on a stubbornly sluggish economy and his decade in power. Polls indicate that Harper's right-of-center Conservative Party, which has been in office since 2006, could well lose its majority in the House of Commons. That would leave Harper at the mercy of the two main center-left opposition parties, who could unite to bring him down. #Business#Economy#United States#Technology#Middle East#markets

PESHAWAR, Pakistan The family of late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has not backed his announced successor, it said on Sunday, and wants the new chief to be chosen by leading Islamic scholars and veterans of the movement. An audio statement, which four Taliban sources said was by Omar's younger brother Abdul Manan, said the family had not given its baiyat, or pledge of allegiance, to Akhtar Mohammad Mansour and did not want to make a choice amid differences. #Business#India#Pakistan#Middle East#Afghanistan

JERUSALEM Israel intends to detain without trial citizens suspected of political violence against Palestinians, government officials said on Sunday following a lethal West Bank arson attack blamed on Jewish militants. The extension to Israelis of so-called "administration detention", a practice commonly applied to Palestinian militant suspects and condemned internationally, laid bare authorities' frustration at failing to curb Jewish ultra-nationalist attacks. Friday's torching of a Palestinian home killed a toddler and seriously hurt his parents and brother, causing an outcry abroad and vows by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to crack down on what he deemed "terrorism" by "criminals in our nation" #Business#Middle East#Israel#United Kingdom#Latin America

CAIRO The United States and Egypt took a step towards repairing the cracks in their relationship on Sunday when they launched their first strategic dialogue since 2009 on a wide range of topics including human rights and an Islamist insurgency in Egypt. Despite Washington's concerns about Egypt's lagging democratic reforms, Cairo remains one of its closest security allies in the Middle East, an increasingly crucial role amid unprecedented turmoil in the region. #United States#Middle East#Africa#Argentina#opinion

DUBAI United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities plan to try 41 people of various nationalities including Emiratis on charges of setting up a terrorist group, the official WAM news agency reported on Sunday. The agency quoted Attorney-General Salem Saeed Kubaish as saying in a statement: "Investigations showed that they set up and managed a terrorist group inside the country .. #United States#India#Technology#Middle East#Argentina

CAIRO A Saudi citizen was killed in shelling fired across the border from Yemen into the southwest of Saudi Arabia on Sunday, the official SPA news agency reported. A shell fell on a house around dawn in Najran province, civil defence department spokesman Ali binOmair al-Shahran was quoted as saying. #Economy#Technology#Middle East#science#Argentina#United Kingdom

YANGON The party of Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected bids by 17 members of Myanmar's respected "88 generation" to join its ranks and contest November's election, a controversial omission of a group that was expected to galvanise its bid to dominate the ballot. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party selected only one member of the popular crop of activists, who suffered years of persecution after leading nationwide student protests in 1988 that were brutally crushed by the ruling military #United States#Technology#Middle East#science#Africa

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will unveil on Monday the final version of his plan to tackle greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants as he aims to cement his legacy on climate change, a senior administration official said. The revised Clean Power Plan will seek to slash carbon emissions from the power sector 32 percent from 2005 levels in 2030, a 9 percent increase over a previous proposal. The regulation will usher in a sweeping transformation of the U.S #India#Middle East#science#markets#United Kingdom#Latin America

CAIRO The United States and Egypt began strategic dialogue talks on Sunday, their first since their relationship was strained by the military ouster of President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his rule in 2013. Despite U.S. lawmakers' concerns that Egypt is lagging on democratic reforms, Egypt remains one of Washington's closest security allies in the region. #United States#Egypt#Middle East#science#Argentina#Entertainment

ISTANBUL Two security force members were killed and 24 were wounded in a suicide bombing attack overnight by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey's eastern province of Agri, the local governor's office said in a statement on Sunday. The attack was carried out with a tractor loaded with two tonnes of explosives on a gendarmarie outpost located in the Dogubeyazit district of eastern Agri province, bordering Iran, the governor's office said. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, editing by William Hardy) #India#Syria#Middle East#Europe#Latin America